Minsoo Sohn Plays Bach 2026 in Abu Dhabi

Minsoo Sohn Plays Bach 2026 in Abu Dhabi is a solo piano recital at the Cultural Foundation on Friday 11 December, part of the 23rd Abu Dhabi Festival. The Korean-American pianist performs the whole of Book One of Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier: 24 preludes and fugues, one in every major and minor key. Doors open at 7pm, the recital begins at 8pm, and the festival lists it as running until around 9:30pm.

The recital was first announced as an Arab world premiere for April 2026 at NYU Abu Dhabi’s Arts Center and was postponed, so this December date at the Cultural Foundation is the rescheduled performance.

Who is Minsoo Sohn?

Minsoo Sohn is a pianist praised for his musical intelligence and elegant virtuosity. The New York Times has called him “a genuine artist, with a thoughtful and poetic interpretation”, and Bach sits at the centre of his reputation. His recording of the Goldberg Variations on the Honens label drew particular praise from the same paper and remains one of the recordings he is best known for.

He is just as serious about Beethoven. In 2020 he completed a four-year Beethoven project that included the complete 32 piano sonatas, released by Sony Classical as a nine-album set. He has toured across North and South America, Europe and South Korea, and has taught at Michigan State University and the Korean National University of Arts. In autumn 2023 he returned to his alma mater, the New England Conservatory in Boston, to join its faculty. He names the pianists Russell Sherman and Wha Kyung Byun as formative influences.

The music: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book One

Bach completed Book One in 1722. He conceived it partly as a teaching collection, a way to show what a keyboard tuned to play in every key could do, yet it has become one of the most performed and studied works in the whole piano repertoire. Pianists often call it the Old Testament of keyboard music.

The structure is simple and endlessly varied. Each of the 24 keys gets a pair of pieces:

• A prelude, freer in form, which sets a mood: some flow like studies, some sing like arias, some dance.
• A fugue, where a single theme is passed between independent voices, building a conversation that can be playful, solemn or intensely complex.

The set opens with the famous C major prelude, with its gently rolling broken chords, and climbs one semitone at a time through every major and minor key, ending in B minor with one of Bach’s longest and most searching fugues. Heard complete in one sitting, as here, the cycle becomes a journey that holds the ear and the mind for well over an hour.

Why hearing it complete matters

Individual preludes and fugues turn up in recitals all the time, but complete live performances of a whole book are much rarer. They ask a lot of the pianist, who has to keep 48 pieces distinct in character while shaping the cycle as a single arc. For listeners, it is a chance to hear how Bach balances light and dark keys, and how the music changes as it moves through them.

Abu Dhabi Festival 2026

The recital is one of the classical highlights of the 23rd Abu Dhabi Festival, which runs from 10 October to 19 December 2026 under the theme “The Wisdom of Culture”. The festival brings international artists to venues across the capital, and the Cultural Foundation is one of its stages this season. If you want to make a weekend of it, the same venue hosts violinist Lisa Batiashvili and pianist Giorgi Gigashvili the evening before, on 10 December, in a programme of Beethoven, Bartók, César Franck and Josef Bardanashvili.

The evening at the Cultural Foundation

The Cultural Foundation stands on Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum Street (2nd Street) in the Al Hisn area of central Abu Dhabi. Seating is assigned, and the organisers ask guests to be in their seats at least 30 minutes before the start: seats may be reassigned if you are not seated by 8pm, and latecomers are only admitted at a break, if there is one. For a continuous cycle of this kind, it is worth taking that seriously.

Good to know

• The recital is for ages 10 and over.
• Smart dress is welcome, but the organisers encourage you to wear what is comfortable.
• Phones must be on silent, and photography and recording are not allowed during the performance.
• Outside food is not permitted, and bags may be checked on entry.
• The venue is accessible, with accessible seating and ramps; the festival offers concession tickets for students aged 23 and under and for People of Determination with a valid card.
• Parking is available at or near the venue, Abu Dhabi Bus Station is about 1.2 km away, and taxi drivers know the Cultural Foundation well.

Who it suits

This is a recital for listeners who enjoy giving their full attention to one great work: pianists, music students and anyone who has played a Bach prelude at the piano will get a great deal from it. Newcomers need not be put off, as the C major prelude alone is one of the best-known pieces of classical music, and the cycle rewards simply sitting back and listening.

For more concerts and culture, browse our art and culture guide, see things to do in Abu Dhabi, or check what else is on in December and across the UAE.